Arial

Common digital typeface

Arial is a sans-serif typeface designed in 1982, ubiquitous in digital documents and web pages.

It was created as a cost-effective alternative to Helvetica and became a default font in Microsoft Windows, making it one of the most widely used typefaces in the world: The memo was set in 12-point Arial.

Often criticized by designers as a lesser substitute for Helvetica, but valued for its clean legibility on screens.

typeface

Helvetica

Neutral sans-serif typeface

Windows · clean · neutral · ubiquitous · default · system · letterform · glyph · kerning · bold

non-Latin

Hebrew

Semitic language of Israel

Thai · Baltic · Turkish · Vietnamese · Central European · extended · character set · multilingual · localized

Categories
Opposites
typographic style

ArialTimes New Roman

Traditional serif typeface

Baskerville · Georgia · Palatino · Cambria · serif fonts

design philosophy

ArialPapyrus

Mocked decorative typeface

Old English · Gothic script · Comic Sans · script fonts

typographic originality

ArialHelvetica

Neutral sans-serif typeface

Futura

Family

air, aerial, aerate

Familiarity
Top 500,000
Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Rated G